About Rare

Rare is a $17 million fast-growing, international conservation organization that runs state-of-the art communication and outreach projects that empower local communities with the tools to solve their own conservation challenges. Rare’s innovative social marketing strategies fuel projects located in more than 50 countries around the world. Named to Fast Company magazine’s list of “Top Social Capitalists” for the last four years in a row, Rare is committed to bringing a spirit of entrepreneurship and creativity to solving one of this century’s great challenges – changing human behavior to ensure sustainable natural resource management.

All Rare projects are managed by local partners; its focus is on building community support for conservation and developing local communications capacity among the world’s leading local environmental organizations. Rare has trained 200 local conservation leaders implementing dynamic change processes in 57 countries. Many of these “campaign managers” work for the largest and the smallest conservation organizations globally, including The Nature Conservancy, WWF, and Conservation International. Rare has five offices around the world in Arlington, Virginia, USA; Bogor, Indonesia; Bohol, Philippines; Guadalajara, Mexico; and Kunming, China.

Rare Methods

Rare works at the community level to address human behaviors that threaten biodiversity, such as overfishing, illegal logging, and unsustainable agriculture. To combat these threats, Rare identifies innovative community-based solutions that have proven successful at changing behaviors. Rare adopts these conservation bright spots and replicates them around the globe, using social marketing campaigns to accelerate their adoption in the world’s highest priority areas for conservation. Rare works with partners at all levels to ensure local campaigns directly support broader national and regional conservation goals. To ensure sustainable success, Rare maintains an alumni program for those local projects already completed.

Rare trains local conservation leaders to promote solution adoption in their communities with its Pride campaign methodology. Pride campaigns use social marketing techniques to inspire people to take pride in their natural resources and to promote sustainable behavior change and alternative practices in communities to benefit conservation. Each local partner organization nominates an emerging leader to enroll in Rare’s globally-accredited Master’s degree in Communication—designed specifically for conservationists. It is accredited by the University of Texas-El Paso and administered by regional university partners in four languages.

While each Pride campaign targets a specific site, Rare groups them into thematic cohorts comprised of ten to twelve campaigns—all focused on a common conservation threat—so that partners can share learning and serve as a network for broader change. Each thematic cohort of Pride campaigns takes up to a year to plan and requires identification of a proven community-based solution to a global problem, recruitment of local partners to lead each campaign, engagement of experts to tailor the Rare training curriculum, and sufficient funds raised to launch the cohort.

Consultancy

Rare believes that its unique, community-based approach could be a critical element for success in projects dealing with climate change adaptation and mitigation throughout the world, including but not limited to forestry sector projects involving REDD+. This consultancy has one primary deliverable.

Key Deliverable – Rare’s Climate Change Strategic Plan

The successful consultant will, in conjunction with key Rare staff, develop a global business plan that maps Rare’s approach to climate change adaptation and mitigation. The plan will be based on Rare’s Theory of Change, with two special foci being adaptation achieved via social capital (social resiliency) and the role of local communities within REDD+. Although the plan will focus on the major tropical forest blocks throughout the world, it will also address grassland and savanna zones, and coastal areas, with special emphasis on “ridge to reef” approaches. This plan would also assess and describe what a climate adaptation “cohort” might look like in Small Island Developing States. It is important that this plan reflect Rare’s approach and internal strategic planning, and the consultant will be expected to spend two periods of time at Rare’s Arlington’s office, both approximately 5 business days in length, at launch and later near the completion of the consultancy. The narrative of the plan is not expected to exceed 30 pages in length, and the entire document with graphics, tables, references, etc. shall not exceed 60 pages in length.

To Apply

Candidates should submit a one-page written outline of the steps necessary to achieve the deliverable, a description of the amount of time to research and write the document, an introductory letter not to exceed one page in length, and a curriculum vitae emphasizing experiences pertinent to succeeding in this specific consultancy. Candidates should include a bid that includes the amount of time estimated to complete the deliverable (including the two 5-business day trips), and the total consultancy bid in US dollars, which should cover 2 round trip airfares to Arlington, accommodations and ground travel while in Arlington. It is expected that the duration of this consultancy will not exceed one month.

Consultants will receive compensation via a standard contract and will not be eligible for any other benefits of any kind.

Please submit your materials by email to Dr. Patrick Mehlman, Senior Director Cohort Development pmehlman@rareconservation.org. Subject line of email should read “Climate Change Planning Consultancy.”